Cars Sold On Safety, Cbs On Doubt

March 01, 1992|By David Kiley, Adweek`s Marketing Week.

When CBS`s ``60 Minutes`` aired its report Feb. 16 about how car front seats are prone to collapse in rear-end collisions, sending occupants into the backseat unprotected by seat belts, deep breaths could be heard from auto executives as roughly 36 million viewers were told most cars aren`t safe.

The deep breaths, and then sighs, came from the belief in the auto industry that CBS`s award-winning show is more in the business of sandbagging people and companies than it is in presenting well-researched stories. But it also was because virtually every company marketing an automobile is spending millions of dollars trying to do something nearly unthinkable 10 years ago-sell cars based on how safe they are.

According to ``60 Minutes,`` none of the American or Japanese car companies would agree to be interviewed on camera. Steve Harris, director of communications for Chrysler Corp., said what many other auto executives told CBS when it was researching the story. ``There is absolutely nothing to be gained for any car company by being part of a `60 Minutes` investigation into auto safety,`` said Harris. ``They don`t know what they are talking about.``

Harris`s statement is based on industry angst, especially over a ``60 Minutes`` report in 1986 showing people who claimed that their Audi 5000 sedans were prone to accelerating out of control. ``60 Minutes`` showed several people who claimed to have had accidents in their Audis due to

``unintended acceleration.`` While Audi sales plunged, the industry and the government investigated and suits were filed. And not one case or government report found fault with Audi, nor was a cause found for unintended

acceleration outside of driver error.

The Feb. 16 program on seatbacks showed Ford Pintos going up in flames when hit from behind. It showed crash test dummies being damaged in rear-end collisions. And it showed accident victims getting in and out of wheelchair modified vans.

Every car company marketing in the U.S. meets or exceeds government standards for seat safety. And the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration said it does not plan to change the standards for car seats. That being the case, car companies cannot set individual standards because deviation from the government safety standard would leave them vulnerable to suits from accident victims.

The only car company to benefit from the CBS program was Mercedes-Benz, which participated in the segment showing how safe the German manufacturer`s seats are. It was a coincidence, said Mercedes and CBS spokesmen, that a Mercedes commercial aired right after the segment.

Robert Austin, director of communications for Volvo Cars of North America, which was not asked by CBS to participate, said the Mercedes ad ``had to give viewers pause to think twice about what they had just seen.`` But in the wake of the report, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that though it had not seen a pattern of such seat failure, it had begun an investigation.